I love this chicken withThai Peanut Sauce. It’s sweet, salty and spicy all at once. I like to use a lot on everything I eat. It’s great on salads, stir fry and even noodles.
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SPICY THAI PEANUT SAUCE WITH CHICKEN AND RICE NOODLES
INGREDIENTS
Nutrition
- 1⁄4cup unprocessed natural creamy peanut butter
- 1⁄4cup soy sauce
- 1⁄2tablespoon ground ginger
- 2tablespoons minced garlic
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 2tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2tablespoons hot chili oil (2 for moderate spicyness add (to taste)
- 3tablespoons honey
- 4chicken breasts
- 2cups chopped broccoli
- 3chopped green onions
- 2shredded carrots
- 1(14 ounce) package Thai rice noodles
DIRECTIONS
- Sauce: Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, oils, vinegar and honey in sauce pan. Simmer, covered, on low heat for 5-10 minutes or until hot, stirring occasionally.
- Chicken: Cut and sauté chicken breasts over olive oil, adding vegetables when chicken is almost finished cooking. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Noodles: Cook rice noodles in water with salt, according to package instructions.
- Serve chicken/vegetables over noodles with sauce poured generously on top.
Thai Peanut Chicken Stir Fry
Delicious Thai peanut chicken stir fry is ready to serve in minutes. Full of sweet, salty and spicy flavors, it’s a perfect weeknight meal.
Thai peanut chicken stir fry is an Asian inspired recipe that is loaded with so much flavor and color! The thai peanut sauce is rich and delicious and it’s easy to customize the recipe based on whatever vegetables you have on hand. You can even make the dish vegetarian by swapping the chicken for tofu and then serve it over brown rice, noodles or quinoa.
INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING THE STIR FRY
FOR THE SAUCE:
- Peanut butter: Use a creamy smooth peanut butter for the base of the sauce.
- Honey: Honey adds a great sweetness to balance out the salty flavors.
- Soy sauce: I like to use a low sodium soy sauce. If you are gluten free you can use Tamari.
- Thai red curry paste: For that unmistakable Thai flavor. Use your favorite brand.
- Rice vinegar: The acidity helps to cut through the other flavors for a tangy sauce.
- Ginger and garlic: Use freshly minced for the best flavors.
- Red pepper flakes: For some added heat. You can adjust the amount depending on how spicy you like things.
FOR THE STIR FRY:
- Olive oil: For cooking.
- Onion: I used a yellow onion, but white will also work if that’s what you have.
- Chicken: Use boneless and skinless chicken breasts, organic if you are able.
- Vegetables: Use vegetables of choice; I used napa cabbage, mushrooms, peppers, sugar snap peas and broccoli.
- Dry roasted peanuts: For a great crunchy texture.
- Cilantro: For freshness. You can use parsley if you don’t like the taste of cilantro.
HOW TO MAKE THE THAI STIR FRY
MAKE THE PEANUT SAUCE
Whisk together all of the ingredients for the sauce until combined and set to one side.
STIR FRY THE VEGETABLES AND CHICKEN
- Cook the onion until it starts to soften and add in the chicken.
- Cook the chicken until fully cooked through and remove from the pan.
- Add in the vegetables and cook until tender.
- Add the chicken back to the pan.
- Pour over the peanut sauce.
- Toss to coat and heat through.
TIPS FOR MAKING CHICKEN STIR FRY
- Save time by using package of frozen stir fry vegetables. Thaw and pat the vegetables dry, then add them to the recipe as directed. They won’t be as crisp as fresh vegetables but they’ll cut the recipe prep time in half.
- Chop vegetables similar in size so they cook evenly. This is a great way to clean out the fridge with different vegetables you have on hand.
- Be mindful of vegetables that don’t need as much cooking time. You can be safe to throw everything that I used in the recipe for 3-4 minutes. However, you can also add vegetables like cabbage, peppers and mushrooms first and keep items like broccoli and sugar snap peas last so they stay crisp and green.
- Make sure that the chicken is cooked all the way through before moving it out of the pan. Once the chicken is added back in, it just needs to be warmed through so that the vegetables don’t overcook.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can you make this with chicken thighs?
Yes, you can make this with chicken thighs if you prefer. Just be aware that they will require an extra couple of minutes of cooking time to cook them through.
Can you make it ahead of time?
Because this is so quick to make, I will serve this as soon as it’s made. You can cook the chicken ahead of time and chop up the veggies so that everything is ready to be cooked. The peanut sauce will keep covered in the fridge for a couple of days.
Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 4 days and can be reheated on the stovetop.
Can you make this into a vegan dish?
Yes, you can easily make this vegan friendly. Use tofu in place of the chicken and swap the honey for maple syrup.
CHICKEN WITH PEANUT SAUCE (VIDEO)
Chicken with Peanut Sauce is one of my favorite easy low-carb recipes with chicken and this dish is flavored with Thai Curry Paste! If you like Thai flavors, this might be a recipe you’ll end up making over and over.
CHICKEN WITH PEANUT SAUCE
Chicken with Peanut Sauce is one of my favorite easy low-carb recipes with chicken and this dish is flavored with Thai Curry Paste! If you like Thai flavors, this might be a recipe you’ll end up making over and over.
Chicken with Peanut Sauce is a recipe I’ve loved for years, and today I’m updating the recipe with better photos, plus two slight changes that I think make this delicious chicken dish even better! The recipe starts with trimmed chicken breast strips that are lightly browned. Then a few key ingredients are blended to make a creamy peanut/curry/ginger paste. Then you heat the paste and mix with coconut milk and chopped cilantro (if desired) and the result is a highly flavorful, fresh tasting sauce that really bumps up the flavor of whatever you serve it with.Report ad
For years I made this recipe with trimmed boneless, skinless chicken breasts and pounded them. But when we recently decided to improve the photos we also decided the chicken would cook a bit more evenly (without pounding) if we cut the chicken pieces in half lengthwise. And that also gave more surface area to get covered with the delicious sauce. No worries if you prefer to keep your chicken breasts whole; either method will work.
The other change we made was to skip the few tablespoons of chicken stock and use the whole can of coconut milk instead for the sauce, adding a bit more soy sauce and curry paste to be sure it was still really flavorful. This Thai-inspired peanut sauce was really great on the chicken, but I you could also serve it on pork, fish, broccoli, or cauliflower. Anyone have other ideas for using the extra sauce? Let me know in the comments.
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WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED?
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Minced Ginger
- Minced Garlic
- Adams 100% Natural Peanut Butter or other smooth natural peanut butter
- Unseasoned Rice Vinegar
- soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
- Monkfruit Sweetener or other sweetener of your choice (see notes)
- Red Thai Curry Paste
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Peanut Oil
- unsweetened coconut milk
- cilantro
WHAT GIVES THIS PEANUT SAUCE THAI FLAVORS?
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I would never suggest this is an authentic Thai dish, but the peanut sauce does have a lot of Thai flavors like ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sweetener, Red Thai Curry Paste, and coconut milk.
CAN YOU USE OTHER CURRY PASTES FOR THE PEANUT SAUCE?
I’m not an expert on Thai curries but I know that green curry, yellow curry, Massaman curry, and Panang curry are all used with chicken, so if you have a different type of curry paste on hand I bet it will work for this recipe.
HOW CAN YOU TELL WHEN THE CHICKEN PIECES ARE DONE?
We used an Instant Read Meat Thermometer (affiliate link) to make sure the chicken had reached 165F/75C before we removed it from the pan.
WHAT IF YOU’RE NOT A CILANTRO FAN?
You can use thinly-sliced green onion instead of cilantro if you’re not a fan.
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HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN WITH PEANUT SAUCE:
(Scroll down for complete printable recipe.)
- Trim the chicken breasts, cutting off visible fat or ragged parts. Cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise.
- Heat oil in a large heavy frying pan. Season the chicken with pepper, then add to the pan and cook over medium heat until chicken is nicely browned, about 5 minutes on first side and 4-5 minutes more on the second side.
- That cooking time is for thick pieces of chicken. For best results, turn the chicken when it’s browned and then use an Instant Read Meat Thermometer (affiliate link) to tell when chicken is done.
- In food processor combine ginger, garlic, peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sweetener and Red Thai Curry Paste.
- Buzz ingredients together and taste to see if you want a bit more curry paste.
- You’ll also need finely chopped fresh cilantro (or thinly sliced green instead if you prefer not to use cilantro.)
- When chicken is nicely browned and has reached 165F/75C, remove chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep it warm.
- Reduce heat to low and add coconut milk, scraping the pan to get off browned bits.
- Stir in curry paste/peanut butter mixture and simmer until it’s hot, about 2-3 minutes.
- Uncover chicken and stir juices that have accumulated on the plate into the sauce and simmer another minute or so.
- Then turn off the heat and stir in most of the chopped cilantro (or green onion), saving a little to garnish.
- Serve chicken hot, with the sauce spooned over.